New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Red supergiant star

Red supergiants are supergiant stars of spectral type K-M and a luminosity class of I. They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of physical size, although they are not the most massive. Stars with more than about 10 solar masses, after burning their hydrogen become red supergiants during their helium-burning phase. These stars have very cool surface temperatures (3500-4500 K), and enormous radii. The four largest known red supergiants in the Galaxy are Mu Cephei, KW Sagitarii, V354 Cephei, and KY Cygni, which all have radii about 1500 times that of the sun (about 7 astronomical units, or 7 times as far as the Earth is from the sun). The radius of most red giants is between 200 and 800 times that of the sun, which is still enough to reach from the sun to Earth and beyond.

Related Stories
 


Space & Time News

October 6, 2025

ESA has inaugurated a powerful new 35-meter deep space antenna at its New Norcia site in Western Australia, marking a major boost to Europe’s ability to communicate with spacecraft exploring the ...
Researchers have designed a new type of gravitational wave detector that operates in the milli-Hertz range, a region untouched by current observatories. Built with optical resonators and atomic clocks, the compact detectors can fit on a lab table ...
A new boron-rich compound, manganese diboride, delivers much higher energy density than current solid-rocket materials while remaining stable until intentionally ignited. Its power comes from an unusual, strained atomic structure formed during ...
Astronomers have long relied on supercomputers to simulate the immense structure of the Universe, but a new tool called Effort.jl is changing that. By mimicking the behavior of complex cosmological models, this emulator delivers results with the ...
Faint hydrogen signals from the cosmic Dark Ages may soon help determine the mass of dark matter particles. Simulations suggest future Moon-based observatories could distinguish between warm and cold dark matter, providing long-sought answers about ...
A new AI model from NYU Abu Dhabi predicts solar wind days in advance with far greater accuracy than existing methods. By analyzing ultraviolet solar images, it could help protect satellites, navigation systems, and power grids from disruptive space ...
The booming space industry has filled the skies with rockets and satellites, but this rapid expansion comes with a hidden danger: slowing the recovery of the ozone layer. Rocket launches and burning space debris release chlorine, soot, and metals ...
NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission has uncovered surprising behavior of pickup ions drifting through the solar wind near Earth. These particles, once thought to be minor players, appear capable of generating waves and influencing how the ...
Physicists have unveiled a new superconducting detector sensitive enough to hunt dark matter particles smaller than electrons. By capturing faint photon signals, the device pushes the search into uncharted ...
Scientists caution that asteroid deflection must be precise, as striking the wrong spot risks sending it through a gravitational keyhole that sets up a future collision with Earth. Using lessons from NASA’s DART mission, researchers are developing ...
Scientists using Google’s quantum processor have taken a major step toward unraveling the deepest mysteries of the universe. By simulating fundamental interactions described by gauge theories, the ...
Astronomers using AI have captured a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic event: a massive star’s violent death triggered by its black hole companion. The explosion, known as SN 2023zkd, not only produced a brilliant supernova but also shocked scientists by ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET